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Celestial Empire of the Golden Dragon
The Celestial Empire of the Golden Dragon (CEGD) is the most populous country on Earth and a major player in international and interstellar politics. The Empire arose following the collapse of the Peoples Republic of China in 2176 after that countries defeat in the Gaian War and has since gone on to become one of the most powerful nations in the world. History The CEGD traces its origins back to the Peoples Republic of China and before that the Chinese Empire, making it one of the oldest civilisations on Earth. Between 1949 and 2176 the country was a communist state with little or no democratic process. Towards the end of this period a number of democratic reforms had been enacted, mostly at a local and municiple level - the ultimate power in the country remained in the hands of the upper echelons of the Communist Party. The Peoples Republic of China was officially dissolved at the end of a bitter civil war which raged between 2171 and 2176. The victorious side of this war declared China an empire once again and appointed it leader, Duc Phan, as the new Emperor. Phan's decendents have ruled the Empire ever since. ﻿ International Relations The Celestial Empire has fought a number of wars over the years with many of the other space faring nations and these conflicts have gone a long way in shaping Imperial diplomatic policies. Officially the Empire has no direct links with either the USA or the Commonwealth following the Third War of Barnard's Star. Diplomatic messages being handled via either the Persian or Indian embassy. Relations with the UOE are also strained as a result of recent trade restrictions imposed by Europe during and after the war. The Empire's main diplomatic allies (and main trading partners) are the R-USSR, the Eastern European Union, and Byzantium. Traditionally the Empire has gone out of its way to court minor neutral nations in an effort to reduce the influence of America or the European powers. Mostly this effort has involved trade concessions and reduced shipping rates of Imperial merchant vessels for none-aligned countries goods. Since the end of the 3rd War however the Empire has entered a period of relative isolation and these efforts have been greatly reduced.﻿ Colonies and Territories The CEGD has carved out a large interstellar territory in a region known simply as Imperial Space. Imperial Space is believed to consist of five colonised systems containing at least three Garden Worlds, two, possibly three, Martian Worlds, and well over a number of colonised moons. One source suggests that the Empire has constructed at least thirty large space stations within its territories for both commercial and military purposes. Imperial Space is considered off-limits to most nations shipping. Certainly any American, Commonwealth, Holy Russian Empire or UOE merchant entering Imperial Space will be subject to major restrictions and possible expulsion. Military vessels from those countries risk being fired upon without warning. Ships from most other countries are permitted but only if they travel along clearly defined spacelanes and are prepared for multiple random inspections. Only ships from the R-USSR, Eastern European Union, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are allowed fairly free passage. The largest Imperial colonies are on Gaia and Emerald Springs (the defacto capital world of Imperial Space) which both have populations in excess of a billion people. Military The military of the Celestial Empire suffered badly in the final year of the 3rd War of Barnard's Star, with several branches suffering catastrophic losses. The aerospace force in particular suffered a casualty rate of over 70%, mostly as a result of inflexible tactics and poor ECCM equipment. Although the war did not involved any ground combat the Army did suffer a catastrophic loss of life during the Battle of Nanking. Three entire divisions had been embarked on their transports for a suprise strike against Shangri-La when a Royal Space Navy task force jumped in system. The Commonwealth fleet was mauled despite having the element of suprise, but were still able to destroy over twenty transport vessels killing thousands of troops. During the so-called "Battle of the Shipping Lanes" the Imperial fleet lost almost every battle where they encountered Allied warships. Only when they had superiority of numbers did the Imperial forces succeed in defeating their opponents. Currently it is believed that the entire Imperial military is undergoing a major shake up. Certainly the higher command echelons have been heavily "overhauled" with at least eighteen officers of the rank of Brigadier or higher been sentenced to public executions for "failing to defend the Empire" and probably three times as many either imprisoned or forced to take retirement. This purge has allowed a number of younger, more flexible, officers to gain high office. Many of whom are combat veterans with first hand experience in the failings which cost the Empire so dearly. The Imperial Military is now divided into three branches - Navy, Army and Aerospace. The Imperial Armed Police (IAP) was transferred to civilian control in 2409 Navy The Imperial Navy has a long history of refusing to decommission ships. Ships continue to serve until they reach the very limits of their hull lives, operating in increasingly lower priority sectors and duties. The pride of the fleet are its five Tian Shang Long class battleships each of which serves as the flagship of a large battlegroup comprised of between six and ten light cruisers and destroyers often supported by a light carrier. The Navy also commands a small marine force, primarily trained for ship (or station) boarding actions rather than planetary assault, although several special forces units may have training in orbital insertion Army The Imperial Army has long played second fiddle to the Navy, usually deployed in a defensive role protecting the empire's colonies from invasion. The Army's moment of glory was the invasion of Shangri-La, and the subsequent defeat there also cemented the pre-eminent role of the Navy, who largely escaped blame. The Imperial Army is organized into semi-autonomous Military Regions, with each having responsibility for a region on Earth or an entire solar system. These Regions, many of which have overly-long ceremonial names (for example, the colloquially-recognized Central Asian Military Region headquartered in Kashgar is formally known as the "Imperial and Grand Seventh Red Dragon Banner Five-time Heroic and Thirty-forth Most Honored Sword of the Emperor Military Headquarters in the Western Imperial Provinces Celebrating the Victory of the Emperor's Setting Sun") control a number of permanently assigned military formations and, as required, are assigned Imperial Reserve and Imperial Guard forces. The forces of Military Regions are largely considered second line troops, roughly analogous to reserve and territorial forces of other states and are typically well suited to defense and garrison duties. They are raised, trained and maintained by the Military Regional Governor and are, in many respects, loyal to that Military Region. While organizations are largely standardized with other equivalent formations across the Imperial Army, funding and manning can leave units at reduced strength. Likewise, the Military Region's requirement to maintain its own forces includes weapon and equipment procurement - few Military Regions field advanced equipment, or if they do, it is in a handful of the most loyal units in the region. There are 32 Military Regions. The Imperial Reserve is, despite the name, the regular army of the Celestial Empire. It is a reserve force in that it is raised, trained and equipped directly by the Imperial Ministry of War and committed as required by circumstances; the Imperial Reserve is not a garrison force. There are 127 known division-equivalents in the Imperial Reserve, with the majority of them cantoned on Earth. These units are recruited from throughout the Empire, but subunits are divided according to reliability, ethnicity/language and education level. Aerospace Forces This branch operates all of the Empire's non-shipborne fighters, bombers, and light support aerospace craft, it is also responsible for medium range aerospace defence operations - specifically all those beyond the equivalent of local geostationary orbit (GEO, which is an orbit which has an orbital period equal to the planetary body's rotational period or 35,000km for bodies with no rotational periods). The Imperial Army is responsible for aerospace defense within LEO. National Data *Capital - Ulan Bator (Population 3.64 million) *Area *Population - 2.14 billion on Earth, 2.5 billion off-world (estimated) Category:Nations Category:Superpowers